


BattleTech: The Mass Effect

by IX404



Category: BattleTech: MechWarrior, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Mad Science
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28252710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IX404/pseuds/IX404
Summary: It is the beginning of the Reaper War. Humanity and the rest of the galaxy is under siege. After completing a vital mission, Shepard is tasked with preventing Cerberus from tampering with a potentially dangerous artifact. What he, and his crew, do not know, is that soon, they will soon be pulled into a world that is both similar... and alien to their own.





	1. Unforeseen Consequences

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I am IX404 and welcome to my newest BattleTech: MechWarrior - Mass Effect Trilogy crossover. Just so you know, I will be updating and modifying the chapters of my other BattleTech multicrossover in order to allow the plot to flow more consistently than it currently is right now. Either way, thank you for your current support, and I will be seeing you in later chapters. 
> 
> This crossover was deeply inspired and influenced by an excellent BattleTech Self-Insert that I read on SpaceBattles, called 'This Was Easier on The Tabletop.' If you haven't checked it out already, I highly recommend that you do so. It is very well written.
> 
> As always, leave a comment, a kudo or two and enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the BattleTech: MechWarrior or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of BioWare, Electronics Arts, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs and Piranha Games Inc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to it's respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.

**SSV _Normandy_**

**Deep Space**

**September 12th, 2186**

The first thing that Shepard did when he woke up was gasp loudly, his heart hammering as he looked around for a moment. For a moment, it seemed as though the nightmare that he was having was overlaid with the real world around himself, as though the real and imagined world were one and the same. Scrambling for the light switch, he flicked it on, with the imagined world fading away to reveal the Captains Quarters of the _Normandy_ SR2. Breathing in and out, he slowly calmed his racing heart down, until it was calm enough for him to be comfortable. _Where did that nightmare come from,_ he thought to himself. _Is this going to go away, or is my mind finally starting to fracture from what's been happening recently._

As he got up and began to get dressed, he remembered the source of these dreams. It had been roughly two days since he had been reinstated to the _Normandy_ , though the reinstatement was due to a galaxy wide emergency that was happening. _The Reapers,_ he thought to himself, a frown on his face as he remembered the events that had led up to this day. Three years ago, he had been assigned to the _Normandy_ SR1, which, at the time, was the definition of cutting edge technology for Humanity. It was the first joint-species designed ship, as the Alliance had reached out to the Turian Hierarchy and offered the proposition of building a ship with them. It wasn't an easy task, as when Humanity made First Contact with the Turians, it hadn't gone well. A short, one month war had happened, and while the Turians had taken Shanxi, the focus of the conflict, the Systems Alliance had come back with sufficient military strength to forcibly evict the Turians. The First Contact War, or Relay 314 Incident to the Turians, would've escalated into an all-out war, but the Citadel Council, having gotten wind of what was happening, immediately used it's influence to force a cease-fire. After a short, but thorough investigation, the Hierarchy was forced to pay heavy war reparations to the Alliance, which had been determined to be merely ignorant of Council law, and thus, was pardoned for activating a Mass Relay.

As a result, there was a lot of skepticism on both sides of the table that the Turians and Humanity would ever cooperate on anything, even though relations were starting to warm up. As a result, there was a lot of surprise when the Turians agreed to work with the Systems Alliance in order to create the _Normandy_ , the name being chosen in honor of theNormandy Landings during WWII when the Allies invaded Nazi controlled Europe. Designed to be the cutting edge of ship technology, the _Normandy_ was equipped with a larger than normal Element Zero Drive, as well as the experimental IES (Internal Emissions Storage) System, which was designed to hide the ship's signature by storing the heat it generated via a specially designed heat pump system. Despite the massive cost, and species relations, the _Normandy_ SR1 soon became a reality, with Captain David Anderson being chosen to man the ship.

At the same time, there was another major project underway. Ever since Humanity became a junior member of the Council, the Alliance had been pushing for one of their own to be inducted into the Spectres, which were an elite, Blackout Operations task force that the Council created to serve as it's right hand. Up to this point, no human being had been made a Spectre, and it was unheard of for a newly inducted species to have a Spectre just thirty years after it joined the Citadel Council. Still, if there was one thing that Shepard knew, it was that when Humanity wanted something badly enough, it would become more than determined to get what it wanted, even if it meant using… ethically questionable methods to succeed. He'd been chosen mostly for his service record: he had grown up on the lean, mean streets of Earth, running with the Reds, until he had gotten of age, after which he joined the Alliance and left his criminal past behind. Things hadn't been easy for him after that then, as he had lost his entire unit on Akuze, thanks to a swarm of Thresher Maws. To this day, he still got chills when he saw one, even in a Mako.

Surprisingly, it wasn't just Ambassador Udina that had recommended him for the Spectres. One such Spectre, a Turian named Nihlus Kryik, had put his name up for the Spectres. When he had asked why, Nihlus had said, "Not all of us resent Humanity, Shepard. Some of us see the potential that your species has, and wants to see that potential realized. We are an elite group, and it is rare that we find an individual with the skills we seek. In other words, Shepard: I don't care if you're human or not. I only care if you can do the job."

As for that job, it was simple: perform a shakedown run on the _Normandy_ to determine if she was battle ready. Shepard had learned, however, that this was a cover for what the _Normandy_ was really going to be doing. Apparently, a short time after the ship was built, construction workers on Eden Prime, one of Humanity's newest colonies, had discovered a Prothean Beacon during surveying. The _Normandy's_ mission, and Shepard's mission, was to retrieve the Prothean Beacon and return it to Earth for proper scientific discovery. It was a major one, as when Humanity made a similar find, it had launched their technology forwards by two centuries. Unfortunately, things took a bad turn when the colony was attacked by the Geth, who also seemed to be interested in the artifact. During the mission, Nihlus had been badly injured, enough that he had slipped into a brief coma, though Dr. Chakwas, the ship's doctor, went above and beyond the call of duty, saving Nihlus' life in the end. Unfortunately, the Prothean Beacon had activated, and had dragged Shepard into it's influence, burning information into his mind. _I still see that to this day,_ he thought to himself.

When Nihlus awoke from his brief coma, he told Shepard what had happened to him. According to Nihlus, he had encountered another Turian at the colony, a legendary Spectre named Saren Arterius. When he let his guard down, Saren had shot him in the back with the intention of killing him. "It's only because of my armor that I survived," Nihlus had told him. Indeed, the armor he wore had been strong enough to prevent him from being killed, though the projectile, which was made of polonium, had caused him to fall into that brief coma, a last ditch attempt by his body to preserve the last flicker of life and hope. Now that he was recovering, Nihlus had told Shepard that he needed evidence in order to show the Council that Saren had gone rouge, and needed to be brought to justice.

That had happened once they arrived at the Citadel, with the Council ordering C-Sec to assist Shepard in any way possible. After recruiting a Turian Investigator named Garrus Vakarian, they had gone to work hunting down any evidence that would convict Saren of his crimes. During the investigation, they recruited Urdnot Wrex, a Krogan bounty hunter, after which they had encountered and interrogated a crime lord named Fist. Fist had told them that a Quarian named Tali had evidence that Saren was a traitor, enough that Saren had asked him to kill Tali in order to stop her from delivering the evidence to the investigation. After dealing with Fist, they had managed to rescue Tali from being killed by Saren's assassins, after which they had presented the evidence to the Council. In the end, despite some reservations, Saren was stripped of his Spectre status, while Shepard was granted Spectre status, and given the mission to hunt Saren down and bring him to justice.

Over the next few days, and weeks, Shepard and his team had gotten to work finding out what Saren was up to, prompting a galaxy wide manhunt for the rouge agent. During this time, he had rescued and recruited Liara T'Soni, a budding Prothean Archaeologist who had helped them out, and had liberated a colony on Feros from Saren's forces, as well as a sapient plant known as the Thorian. During this time, Shepard had learned what was going on. Apparently, Saren was working for a species of hyper-advanced machines known as the Reapers; information suggested that the Reapers came to the galaxy every fifty thousand years to cleanse the galaxy of all sapient life in the galaxy, and thus, were responsible for the Prothean's disappearance; they were also planning to return via the Conduit, a mysterious artifact that no one knew about until now. After stopping Liara's mother, Matriarch Benezia, this had been confirmed, as Benezia, despite being brainwashed by the Reapers, had given them the information they needed, before ultimately succumbing to the Indoctrination, forcing Shepard to kill her. During this time, he also had allowed the Rachni, an ancient species of sapient insectoids, to live, as they wanted nothing more than to live in peace with the rest of the galaxy.

Eventually, they had caught up with Saren on a planet named Virmire, which he'd been using to create an army of Krogan soldiers, cloned from DNA samples and cured of the Genophage, a sterility plague that was the result of a Council made bioweapon. After destroying the facility, while preventing a crew member from going rouge, Shepard had returned to the Council, only to learn they had dismissed the Reaper threat as a convenient lie that Saren had created. Since he was adamant that it was true, they had locked down his ship, though thanks to a clandestine effort on Anderson's part, they were able to escape and head to Ilos, where the Conduit was located at. Once they got there and found the Conduit, which was a Prothean made Mass Relay, they had gotten to the Citadel, which was under attack by a Reaper named Sovereign, and had stopped Saren, ultimately convincing the Turian to commit suicide, allowing Shepard to defeat Sovereign, save the Council, and prevent the Reapers from arriving.

 _Then there was the time that I technically died,_ Shepard thought as he stepped into the shower and got to work cleaning himself off. _Technically._ He thought this as he knew that, at some point, his ship had been attacked by the Collectors, a species of alien that were allied with the Reapers. For the next two years, he was clinically dead, but that was a minor detail to Cerberus, a pro-human Black Ops organization. For two years, they worked tirelessly to bring him back from the grave during Project Lazarus. Eventually, they succeeded in doing so, after which he had learned of what the Collectors were doing.

Over the next few weeks, he recruited new people to the crew. Some were Cerberus faces, such as Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, a former Alliance Marine. Some were familiar faces, like Garrus Vakarian and Tali, while others were fresh faces, like Samara, Grunt and Mordin. Once they had gotten together, they had assaulted the Collector's homeworld, after stopping some of their attacks, and had destroyed their space station, ending the Collector's reign of terror against Humanity, though this had come at the cost of being alienated from Cerberus. After destroying a Relay that would've allowed the Reapers to return, he'd been arrested by the Alliance.

It was then, however, that he learned what was really going on. While the Councilors had dismissed the Reapers as a grim fairy tale, the individual governments of the Citadel Council had heeded his warnings and had been preparing for when the Reapers would arrive. New technologies were created, safe havens made off the Mass Relay network, and AI's created to counter the Reaper's advantages. It was projected that they would have to abandon Earth and many other worlds, but they had been busy making sure that the civilian populace could be evacuated to worlds off of the Mass Relay network, denying the Reapers a psychological advantage.

 _Now we're in a fight for our very survival_ , Shepard thought as he got out of the shower, drying himself off with a towel. So far, the forethought and planning of the Citadel Races had paid off in spades, even though the civilian populace was uncomfortable with their current living arrangements. Casualties had been high in the first few hours, but they had managed to destroy a number of Reapers in the process. In order to effectively stop the Reapers, the Admirals and Generals of the Council Races, as well as their Geth allies, had decided to use guerrilla warfare to make it too costly for the Reapers to continue the war. So far, the plan was working out well, but Shepard knew it was only a matter of time before the Reapers found where the civilians were, and began inflicting massive casualties.

Looking at a datapad once he was fully dressed, Shepard could see the crew that were onboard the ship. There was his old crew, consisting of Garrus, Wrex, Liara, Tali and Kaidan; then his new crew, which consisted of Javik, a Prothean they had recovered form a stasis pod on Eden Prime, Jacob Taylor, Legion, a Geth that was assigned to the ship, Samara, Grunt, EDI, James, an Alliance Marine he had picked up on Earth, as well as Zaeed, an old, grizzled mercenary that he had gotten at Omega. There were also a few new faces as well. A few of his crew had come from Omega, once it had been liberated from Cerberus a day ago. Once such member was Nyreen Kandros, a female Turian that he had recruited at Omega. She was a strong biotic, and was a natural leader, though she was suffering from mild PTSD as a result of Cerberus bioweapons known as Adjutants. _This is my crew_ , Shepard thought to himself. _A mismatched, raggedy band of misfits, but they're my crew all the same_.

As he put his datapad down, he heard someone walking inside. "Come in," he replied, turning around to see who it was. He was surprised to see that it was Liara, as she rarely came up to the Captain's Quarters, as she usually monitored her information network. "Liara," he asked, "It's good to see you here."

"It's good to see you as well," Liara replied. Looking at Shepard, she noticed that he had slight bags underneath his eyes. "You OK," she asked.

Sighing, Shepard sat down on his bed, rubbing his eyes as Liara sat down next to him. "Officially, yes," he replied. "Personally no. I've been having nightmares since we were forced to abandon Earth when the Reapers arrived."

"What kind of nightmares?"

"They always involve a young boy I saw on Earth. I… I tried to rescue him, but he was too afraid to let me do so. I... I watched him die when a Reaper fired on the Kodiak piloting him. Since then… I've been having these nightmares. Every time I fall asleep, I see him running through this burnt forest, playing with a toy. When I catch up to him, he looks at me and then he starts to…" He trailed off when he reached that part of his memory of the nightmare.

"It's OK," Liara replied, putting a hand on Shepard's back. "I think I know what you're suffering from. I think your kind calls it 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.' I think what's happening is that your mind is punishing itself for letting that child die."

"You think so," Shepard asked, looking at her.

"Yes," Liara nodded. "And there is a cure for that. If I were in your position, I would examine those memories and ask myself if I had done everything that I could in that situation. If the answer is yes, then there is no need to be worried. Meditation usually helps as well, as does slow, regular breathing. If it helps, let me know."

"Thanks, Liara," Shepard replied. "Anything else I should know?"

"Admiral Hackett would like to speak to you when you've got some time," Liara replied.

"OK," Shepard replied. With that, Liara left the Captain's Quarters, leaving him alone in the room. Taking her advice, he got onto the floor and crossed his legs, sitting down and closing his eyes while resting his hands on his knees. Slowing his breathing down, he began to think back towards the memories, asking himself the question that Liara had recommended he ask. While the effect wasn't immediately obvious, he found that he felt much better after that moment. He was surprised to find that his gut had been knotted up somewhat, with the knots vanishing as he continued to meditate and think back on what had happened. His eyebrows stopped becoming furrowed, and he felt better than before. After a few minutes, he got up and began making his way towards the Mess Hall. _I'll need to thank Liara later,_ he thought as he pushed the icon on the elevator panel for the Mess Hall. _That really helped out._

When he got out of the elevator, he was just in time to hear a loud _' **S'KAK** '_ being hurled across the room, just before a fist hit a table. Walking out of the elevator, he walked around the shaft to see what was going on, with the cause of the shout coming into view moments later. Looking at the table, he was surprised to see James Vega and Garrus Vakarian playing some kind of holographic board game, complete with a set of holographic dice and holographic miniatures. Vega had a megawatt smile on his face, while Garrus was scowling, idly scratching his head with a talon as he tried to figure out how he lost. "Hi, Shepard," Vega beamed. "Wanna play?"

"Not right now, no," Shepard replied, "though I am kinda curious as to what you're playing."

"That's easy," Vega replied. "This is Classic BattleTech. It's a board game that's popular with new recruits in the Alliance Marines, myself included. As for why Garrus is scowling, it's because I just won a 'Mech battle against his last 'Mech. Critical hits are a bitch, I can tell you that."

"There's no way a 'Mech with an AC/20 can penetrate that much armor like that," Garrus scowled.

"According to the lore, it can do that," Vega countered. "AC/20's are the most damaging Autocannon against armor, and can one-shot a lighter 'Mech within it's effective range. Your 'Mech, a _Shadow Hawk_ if I recall correctly, suffered a critical hit to the cockpit, since I rolled a 2d20. As a result, your character got turned into paste, and I won the game. Still, you were a good fighter. You destroyed the left arm and left center torso of my _King Crab_." Looking at Shepard, he said, "Garrus challenged me to a board game that was popular with Humans. I told him we were going to play one round of Classic BattleTech, and he agreed."

"Sounds like you got beaten by a professional," Shepard remarked to Garrus. "You probably should've picked something a little less well known to Vega."

"That's true," Garrus admitted, his scowl fading slightly. Looking at Vega, he said, "Well, you won the game. I guess those fifty credits are yours now."

"Yep," Vega replied. While this was going on, Shepard walked over to the mess hall and grabbed himself some rations. "Still don't want to play," he asked Shepard.

"I'll think about it a little later," Shepard replied. "I used to enjoy board games all the time when I was a kid. Perhaps I've still got it." With that, he stopped talking, as he began to shovel food into his gullet. Once he was done, he left the mess hall and headed for the CIC, where the War Room was located at.

The War Room of the Normandy was well lit in the center, though the edges of the room were somewhat darker. The entire room had a series of chairs built into it, so that the crew could all attend any briefings that were held here. In the center of the room was a holographic projection of a map of the galaxy, with major sectors being lit up in varying colors. Those colors represented the readiness level of each sector, with most being orange to orange-yellow. A few of the sectors were green, indicating full military readiness. Areas that were being held by the Reapers were marked by zones that had red and black diagonal lines running through them, and there were quite a few of them. Off to the side of the War Room was a small booth that held the Quantum Entanglement Communicator, which was used for long range communications. Walking into the QEC room, Shepard pulled up the COM call for the day. Moments later, an elderly man wearing an Alliance Dress Uniform came up on the screen. Though the hologram of the man was tinted blue, Shepard recognized who he was immediately. "Admiral," Shepard replied, saluting a moment later.

"At ease," Hackett replied, his husky voice still carrying it's authority, even though the _Normandy_ was halfway across the galaxy from him. "I called to check up on your current progress in this sector of the galaxy. I take it all is going well, yes?"

"Yes," Shepard replied. "We were able to cure the Krogan of the Genophage. Wrex has been especially ecstatic that we've succeeded in doing so." Frowning, he said, "Mordin was severely injured. He's currently in the Med Bay; I don't know how he survived, but he did. Even he is confused as to how he lived."

"I take it that removes the Salarians from the equation," Hackett asked.

"Yes," Shepard replied. "The Daltrass offered her assistance if I sabotaged the Genophage Cure. I could not bring myself to accept her offer; the Krogan have suffered too much. As a result, I can say that the price of their support was far too high."

"Understandable," Hackett nodded. "Fortunately, though, the Salarians are still coming onboard. They've just removed the Daltrass from her position of power, and have elected one that is more open minded. She's agreed to lend Salarian assistance despite the Krogan being cured of the Genophage. She even believes that what you did was right, stating that 'in times of war, we cannot allow prejudice to cloud our judgment, nor can we allow a vocal minority to dictate our own future. When the time comes, we will teach the Krogan how to live in our society peacefully, something our ancestors failed to do correctly.'"

"Sounds like the new Daltrass has a clear head."

"She does, I can give you that." Pacing around somewhat, Hackett said, "In addition to the usual progress report, I've got a mission for you to handle."

"And that would be," Shepard asked.

"We detected an unusual energy burst coming from the Terminus Systems," Hackett explained. "According to probes we launched, we found that this energy burst was coming from a planet you've visited before. According to the readings we got before the probe was destroyed, it appears as though Cerberus was studying some kind of Prothean artifact on the surface of the planet. An agent we had on the inside was able to provide more detail before she was forced to self-terminate when Cerberus uncovered her identity."

Shepard frowned at that. Ever since the Reapers began to invade, Cerberus had gotten unusually aggressive and hostile towards the Systems Alliance and the rest of the galaxy. They had attempted to prevent the construction of a weapon that the Protheans created in order to destroy the Reapers, known as the Crucible, and they had attempted to kill or kidnap high ranking officials throughout Council and Terminus Space. As a result, when he heard that they were interested in a Prothean artifact, that immediately got his attention. "That's not good at all," he frowned. "If Cerberus is attempting to interfere with a Prothean artifact, then I can say that it will not end well."

"That's what I was thinking," Hackett nodded. "As a result, I've reprioritized this Prothean artifact to the highest level possible. I need you, Shepard, to go to that star system and find out what it is that Cerberus is so interested in. If something is happening there, and Cerberus is responsible, I need you to shut down what they're doing immediately. Given their track record thus far, it's likely that they do not have any good intentions with what they're doing."

"Understood," Shepard nodded. "We'll get it done."

"I know you will, Shepard," Hackett nodded. "You haven't let me down before, and I have every reason to believe that you will not let us down. Hackett out." With that, the COM link ended moments later.

As he walked out of the QEC room, Shepard considered what was going on, even as he got the information for the star system. _I had a feeling that something was off there,_ he thought to himself. _Apparently, there was more to that planet than I thought there was when we visited it last. Either way, I intend to find out what's going on there, and put an end to what Cerberus is doing._ Looking up, he keyed the PA and said, "Commander Shepard to all ground team personnel, report to the War Room immediately." A few minutes later, everyone that was on the ground force was inside of the War Room, a total of roughly twenty people. Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. As you all know, we're currently fighting a two front war with the Reapers and Cerberus, who seem to be aligned in their goals. However, the Cerberus front is about to heat up thanks to intelligence I received from Admiral Hackett." Pulling up a holographic image, he said, "Look familiar, anyone?"

"That's Ilos," Tali remarked.

"Correct," Shepard replied. "According to probe readings, Cerberus has set up a base in an area near where we were able to access the Conduit during our previous visit to Ilos. A mole inside of the base was able to send Hackett valuable intelligence before she had to self-terminate in order to avoid capture." Zooming in on the planet, the hologram now showed a roughly circular region on the planet, with a number of buildings located around what appeared to be a large crater of some kind. "According to the mole, Cerberus has set up a number of research stations here on the planet. There's a dormitory located next to the lab, along with a high security control center on the west side of the crater" The aforementioned buildings promptly lit up in red. "In addition to this, most of the research buildings are concentrated around something in the center of the crater, which is about a mile wide. Pictures of the area showed what appeared to be a series of gyroscopic rings that are connected to a series of emitters located at the rim of the crater.

"This is what the plan will be. We'll be splitting up into four, five man teams. Fireteam Alpha and Bravo will assault the control room and research labs, while Charlie and Delta will assault the area near the edge of the Prothean Artifact. Once we've secured those areas, we'll head for the Prothean artifact and determine what is going on. Should Cerberus send reinforcements, we'll hold near the artifact and prevent them from taking it back. Once we've reported in, we'll call for an Alliance fleet to secure the region, since the Reapers are not present yet." Looking up at the team, he asked, "Any questions?"

Xavora Kyrik, a cousin of Nihlus, asked, "Do we have any estimates on the enemy's strength?"

"Expect between eighty and a hundred personnel at the base," Shepard replied. "Most of the guards are Centurions and standard Soldiers, but we've also got a few Phantoms in the area as well. We also believe they have armored walkers as well. Anything else?" When no one else asked any questions, he said, "Alright. We'll be arriving at Ilos in about four hours. I recommend that you get some R&R before gearing up and heading out. That's all. Dismissed."

* * *

A few hours later, Shepard and the others were gearing up for the mission on Ilos, with everyone making sure their equipment was ready to rock. He could tell that his orders for them to get some R&R had been the right call, as everyone on each Fireteam was bright eyed and bushy tailed, and more than ready to make a mess of Cerberus. During this time period of R&R, he'd decided who the team leaders would be. Garrus would lead Fireteam Alpha, while Wrex would lead Fireteam Bravo. Nyreen would lead Fireteam Charlie and finally, Javik would lead Fireteam Delta.

During this time, he'd also taken up James offer of playing some Classic BattleTech, of which there were two kinds. The first involved the original storyline, which excluded the presence of aliens and advanced nanotechnology, while the second not only included the Council Races, but also advanced nanotechnology and AI. Shepard had to admit, it felt good to have a throwback to some of the brighter times of his childhood, which included board games. While Vega had beaten him during the first and second rounds, his skill with that genre of games had quickly shaken off all the rust, as he dominated Vega during the third and fourth rounds. _I must admit, playing around with towering, robotic war machines does sound kinda nice_ , he thought to himself. _If only we had WarShips similar to what the Star League had. Then we would be crushing the Reapers with ease._ Still, he knew that it was all pointless conjecture, as it was just that: a game to be enjoyed.

As they finished their checkup, they began to head towards the hangar/cargo bay, where a pair of _Kodiaks_ were ready to go to take them to the surface of the planet. Most of the area they were heading to was within running distance, so they wouldn't need to use a vehicle to get there, a fact that was compounded by the fact that much of Ilos was littered with debris, making travel using wheeled and tracked vehicles impossible. In order to prevent Cerberus from getting the drop on them, they would land near the research facility and travel there on foot, while the _Normandy_ would be on standby in order to provide fire support runs if necessary. Having already rebriefed the team, Shepard knew he didn't need to speak this time, and he knew he would be going with Team Alpha on the mission.

As soon as everyone was loaded into the two _Kodiak_ troop transports, the cargo/hangar bay doors opened, with the transports quickly flying out of the bay and into the vacuum of space. As they descended, Shepard could still see the area that he had traveled through with Tali and Wrex all those years ago. _It's been so long,_ he thought, _but at the same time, it feels as though it was yesterday since we came here. Time is a rather fickle thing._ As he settled in, he could see the interior of the shuttle being filled with an angry red-orange light, the result of reentry into the atmosphere. Soon, they were coasting through the atmosphere of Ilos, with the shuttles quickly arriving at their destination. Once they arrived, everyone piled out of the vehicles, regrouping for a moment before moving out to their mission destination. Getting to the facility wasn't easy, as they were having to work around piles of debris, massive holes in the ground, as well as the occasional fauna that proved to be hostile. As they moved through the area, Shepard could feel a sense of foreboding. _Something feels off,_ he thought to himself. _I don't know what it is, but something feels off._ Apparently, he wasn't the only one, as other crew members were feeling nervous as well.

Eventually, they reached the site that Cerberus was so interested in. To his surprise, Shepard found that there were actually _two_ craters, with the Cerberus facility located in the first crater, while the second crater had the actual Prothean artifact. As a result, there was very little, if any, cover between them and the actual base itself. The Cerberus base was well protected, with meter high walls of solid metal and composites, as well as floodlights that were arranged at regular intervals. An electric fence was located around the inner perimeter, and Shepard guessed that there were probably regular guard patrols in the area as well, if the mole's intel was correct. He could see that the main base was connected to the area with the artifact via a security checkpoint that led into a dome that had been constructed, most likely to hold the artifact. As he examined the area, Garrus said, " _S'kak,_ this is not going to be easy. Cerberus has the area locked down tight."

"I agree," Taylor replied. "Looks like they've really beefed up their security measures since we hammered them last time. We'll need explosives to get inside."

"I can arrange for that," Xavora beamed. "I was trained to use demolitions during my time in the Hierarchy Defense Force. I can get an explosive charge primed and set on the gate, and then we'll be inside."

"Why not use me," Grunt remarked. "I can smash through the walls with ease. Not much stands in the way of a Krogan."

"That might be," Shepard nodded, "but I don't want to risk the walls being booby trapped. Cerberus is clever like that." Turning to Legion, he asked, "What do you think?"

"We can use our software to open the gate," Legion replied, the Geth Platform's head plates shifting as it spoke. "Once we are inside, we will disable the communications relay and any defenses located inside of the base. Once we have disabled the defenses, we will be able to proceed to the artifact."

"Javik?"

"I can interface with the artifact my people created. It is not a device that I am familiar with, as it was probably constructed by a splinter faction when the Reapers destroyed my people. Still, we cannot allow this Cerberus to acquire the device. Many of the things my people built are hazardous to non-Protheans, as you no doubt know."

"More than I care to," Shepard nodded. "Alright, people. We can't waste anymore time waiting outside. Let's get in there and teach Cerberus a lesson they won't forget any time soon." Nodding in agreement, the teams split up and began to move towards the facility, weapons at the ready. Reaching the gate, Shepard watched as Legion walked up to the gate, with the Geth Platform quickly interfacing before beginning it's hacking routines. So far, thanks to tactical cloaks that Kasumi had installed into their armor systems, they hadn't been detected, though that wouldn't stay like that for long. Moments later, the gate opened up, allowing the teams to move in.

As soon as they did, all hell broke loose. As soon as they were in, Garrus' team went on the offensive, opening up on the Cerberus personnel immediately. A number of guards fell to the ground dead before the security realized that something was wrong. "We've got incoming," a Cerberus soldier shouted. "Fall back! Keep them away from the artifact!"

"I don't think so," Garrus snarled, before firing off a round from his rifle, ending the life of that particular soldier. Moving through the area, his team quickly moved towards the control center, while Bravo Team moved towards the dormitory, where most of the personnel were located at. Hacking into the door controls, Kasumi managed to crack the door open, allowing Garrus and the others to move inside. Weapons blazed as the team opened fire on the personnel inside, with Centurions and other soldiers falling to the ground quickly.

"Watch it," Kasumi shouted, pushing Garrus to the side. Moments later, a Phantom's blade appeared where his midsection would've been if she hadn't pushed him. He was about to act when James barreled through, smashing the Cerberus Phantom to the ground before firing a round through her head, killing the Phantom instantly.

"Thanks," Garrus called out.

"Least I can do," Vega shouted. "Oh, man. What I wouldn't give for _Elemental_ Battle Armor right now."

"Still going on about it," Garrus asked as he nailed an Engineer in the head.

"Why not," Vega remarked. "Besides, the Clans would mop the floor with these assholes. Those guys are basically _bred_ to fight. Cerberus wouldn't hold a candle to Clan Jade Falcon." Spotting a group of soldiers, he said, "Hey, _pendejos!_ HEADS UP!" With that, he took out a frag grenade and hurled it through the air, with the grenade detonating on impact. Limbs and shrapnel flew everywhere as the grenade ripped apart the Cerberus personnel. "WHOOOHOOOOOO!"

"Does he always act like this," Kasumi asked Shepard, the latter of the two having gotten inside moments ago.

"Yep," Shepard replied. Keying his COM as he took out a Centurion, he asked, "Wrex, what's the status of the dormitory?"

In response, Shepard heard a loud, thunderous _BOOM_ as something detonated explosively. "Doing just fine," Wrex replied. "Grunt's been tearing through the enemy like a cheese grater through cheese, or whatever that human expression is. Xavora just blew up a few of those assholes and our other new recruits are doing well. They're making me feel old over here."

"I thought you were old," Shepard teased.

"I know I am," Wrex replied. "Just wait. I'll show these kids a trick up my sleeve."

"I see," Shepard nodded. "Team Delta, Charlie, what's your situation?"

"We're doing fine," Nyreen reported. "We've got a lot of resistance, but it's not something that we can't handle. We're already at the doors to the artifact dome, but the door's locked off. We need you to crack it open as soon as possible."

"Roger that," Shepard replied. "Anything else?"

"We've got trouble incoming," Nyreen added. "I think they've got Special Forces inbound on our position. We'll need to get to the artifact as soon as possible."

"Legion, EDI, can you confirm," Shepard asked as he walked over to a control console.

"Affirmative," EDI replied. "Cerberus has sent a high ranking soldier to our position. One 'Kai Leng.'"

"Shit," Shepard growled. Kai Leng was one of Cerberus' top operative, and it was easy to see why. The man was responsible for nearly killing the Councilors during Cerberus' attack on the Citadel, before the Genophage had been cured. The Cerberus Agent was not only highly skilled, he was extremely dangerous and had nearly killed Thane during the fight on the station. Fortunately, they had foiled Cerberus' coup and had quickly driven them off the station. Still, having encountered Kai Leng on the station, Shepard knew he was no pushover at all. "ETA?"

"Two minutes," EDI replied.

"Fuck," Shepard growled. "Alright people, change of plans. We're moving on the artifact now. Neutralize anyone that tries to get to our position." As soon as he said that, everyone immediately went into overdrive, tearing through the Cerberus personnel as quickly as possible. Eventually, they reached the artifact itself. Up close and personal, Shepard could see that it was similar to a Mass Relay, only he noticed the conduits leading to the emitters outside, as well as the modifications to the gyroscopic rings. "What the hell is this," he asked.

"I do not know," Javik replied. "I can say that it is Prothean in origin." Looking around, he noticed what appeared to be a Prothean Artifact, only it was built into the machine itself. "This is an interface," he told Shepard. "The operators of this device would use this interface in order to activate whatever it was connected to. If I interface with the artifact, I might be able to determine it's exact function."

"Are you sure you want to take the risk," Shepard asked.

"I must," Javik stated adamantly. "There is no other way."

"Alright. Just remember, if you need me too, I'll pull you away from it."

"Understandable." With that, Javik walked up to the device, with the Prothean device activating moments later. Suddenly, he was hoisted up into the air by the device, which projected a green glowing field around his body. It was clear that Javik had successfully interfaced with the device, as his eyes were closed and he seemed relaxed.

While this was going on, Shepard heard the door to the dome opening up. Getting into position with the others, he watched as a number of Centurions, Phantoms and Engineers began to enter, all of whom were led by a single individual of Asian descent. Most of his gear was black, with accents of gold and white, but his eyes were hidden by a visor he wore. Still, Shepard recognized the man for who he was. "Kai Leng," he growled.

"You still remember me," Leng sneered at Shepard. "Good. It will make your death all the more… memorable. You've been quite a bur in the Illusive Man's plans, enough to warrant him to have me take you down."

"Easier said than done," Shepard replied. "Still, whatever it is you want with this artifact, you're not getting it."

"Really," Leng remarked. "Because your Prothean will give us whatever it is we want, once we've killed you." Turning to his men, he said, "Kill Shepard and the others. Spare the Prothean." Just like that, the fight was on.

Gunfire erupted throughout the dome as Shepard and his team fought back against Kai Leng and his men. Almost immediately, Leng rushed in to engage Shepard, with the Spectre quickly rolling to avoid the powerful blow. Firing his weapon, he peppered Leng with bullets, forcing the Agent to roll and juke in order to avoid being hit. Leng fired his weapon moments later, forcing Shepard to take cover when his barriers shattered. As he waited for his barriers to recharge, he could see that the others were doing quite well for themselves. He was about to move when Leng tackled him to the ground, intent on driving a knife through his side. Rolling fast, he threw Leng to the ground before getting up, arms and fists ready as he prepared to fight. During his time as a Spectre, and before he was arrested, he had worked on improving his CQC abilities, as he only knew basic self-defense strategies in that regard. Garrus had been particularly helpful in that regard, since he was an expert CQC expert, along with Kasumi and Samara, all of whom had taught him how to fight without a weapon.

As a result, now that he was face to face with Kai Leng, Shepard knew he wasn't helpless when it came to fighting the Cerberus agent. He had also upgraded his cybernetics, making it easier for him to fight as well. Both men began to trade blows with each other, with their fight looking more like a dance between two dancers than an actual fight between two soldiers. Fists were hurled through the air, along with feet and legs, but both men weren't able to touch each other, not for a while at least. While Kai Leng was younger and faster, Shepard had more experience, and the fighting and training he had greatly extended his endurance. Plus, he knew how to pull a few dirty tricks now and then. Shouting loudly, Shepard closed the gap between himself and Leng, with the younger combatant unable to react in time. Before he could react, Leng was hurled through the air by a precise and powerful kick from Shepard, with the man stumbling backwards into the artifact. A loud _CRACK_ filled the air as Leng landed; despite whatever injury he had, the young Cerberus Agent continued to fight on, though it was clear that the blow had winded him.

All the while, Javik was still interfaced with the Prothean artifact. He was still aware of what was going on, but he was having to concentrate on the matter at hand. _I cannot allow Cerberus to gain the upper hand,_ he thought to himself, _and it's only a matter of time before Cerberus drowns us in bodies._ Concentrating more deeply, he extended his access towards a part of the device he hadn't examined yet. Suddenly, something happened. Everyone stopped fighting as the gyroscopic rings in the artifact began to rotate around and around, with an intense, humming sound echoing through the dome. The rings began to rotate faster and faster, before they began to shift, with powerful Mass Effect fields precisely moving the rings until the gaps between each semi-circle component were pointing straight up and down, with the rings rotating left and right inside of each other. At the same time, a bright blue glow began to form inside of the device.

"What's happening," Shepard asked as he and Leng stared at the device, having forgotten their feud with each other. "Javik, what's happening?!"

"I don't know," Javik shouted, having opened up his eyes. "The device is activating! I must've triggered some kind of activation sequence!"

As soon as he said this, the metal and composite dome sheltering the artifact _shattered_ like glass, with pieces being sucked skywards towards something. At the same time, the emitters activated, surrounding the entire inner crater in an ethereal blue-white dome of energy, with the barrier being transparent. Just as Shepard was about to order an evacuation, there was a brilliant white flash of light, so bright that anyone near the flash would've been blinded immediately. At the same time, a beam of energy shot out of the device and into orbit, engulfing the _Normandy_ in the process. A few seconds later, the beam of energy and the light faded into nonexistence. Everything seemed normal, but with one major difference: the _Normandy_ and those around the artifact… were gone. What none of the people in the dome or the Normandy knew, was that soon, they would be involved in the adventure of a lifetime.


	2. Explanations & First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my Mass Effect Trilogy - BattleTech: MechWarrior crossover. Thank you for the feedback that I have gotten so far for my crossover. I really appreciate it. Just so you know, updates might slow down as I gather more information. Also, since this story is heavily influenced by 'This Was Easier on The Tabletop', much of the beginning part of this crossover will be heavily influenced by that SI, so shout out to that author for that wonderfully written BattleTech SI. Either, way, thanks for the support, and I hope to see you in future chapters. As always, leave a comment, a kudo or two, and enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect or MechWarrior/BattleTech franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of BioWare, Electronic Arts, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs and Piranha Games Inc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.

**MechWarrior 4: Vengeance OST – Davion Theme**

**MechWarrior 4: Vengeance OST – Emmity Road**

**Unidentified Star System**

**SSV _Normandy_**

**Unknown Date**

The first thing that told Shepard that he wasn't dead was that he was feeling pain and minor nausea; that was a good thing, as that told him he was alive, if somewhat battered and bruised. The second thing that told him he was alive was that he was breathing, and that he didn't feel like he was suffocating. The last thing that told him he was alive was the fact that he was lying down on something. Groaning, he blearily opened his eyes, expecting to see the wrecked dome that the artifact was in. Instead, he found himself looking at the face of a female Turian, as well as the ceiling for the hallway leading to the _Normandy's_ CIC. _What the fuck,_ he thought to himself, pushing off the Turian, who he recognized as Nyreen, before getting up and looking around. To his amazement, most of the ground team was inside the CIC, along with the crew, all of whom were blissfully unconscious, unaware as to what had happened. _I don't know what happened,_ he thought to himself. _All I remember is the artifact activating, then up and down became left and right, right became perpendicular to what I thought was reality, and left told me to go fuck myself._ Bending down, he sat Nyreen up against the wall and began talking to her. "Nyreen," he asked. "Nyreen, can you hear me? Please, don't be dead. I've lost enough people as it is."

There was a brief moment of suspense, with Shepard unable to tell if Nyreen was dead or alive. Relief suffused his body as Nyreen groaned loudly, before opening her eyes. Both vertical green slits went narrow immediately, and she squeezed both of her eyes shut. "Uuuuggghhhh," she moaned as she slowly came to. "Spirits… What happened to me? I thought I was about to enter the Spirits embrace when you woke me up."

"I don't know," Shepard replied. "All I remember is the artifact activating, then I woke up and you were lying on top of me." Looking around, he asked, "Do you?"

"No," Nyreen replied. "Ugh. My body feels like it's been stretched and electrocuted." Getting up, she yawned loudly before stretching, with her joints popping as she brought herself to full wakefulness. "Um, why is the entire ground team inside the CIC?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out," Shepard replied. "Can you help me get them up?"

"Sure," Nyreen replied.

With that, the two began attempting to wake up the crew of the entire _Normandy_. While Nyreen went to wake up the others, Shepard, despite the aching pain he was feeling, walked over to Garrus and sat him up, before gently nudging him in an attempt to wake him up. Fortunately, he was much quicker to rouse than Nryeen, as he immediately woke up, spluttering loudly as he did so. Looking at Shepard, he said, " _S'kak_. I don't feel really good at all." Just as he said that, he immediately leaned over and threw up, causing the contents of his lunch to spill out onto the deck. Couching loudly, he looked at Shepard and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Shepard replied. "Can you help me wake up the others?"

"Sure," Garrus replied, before hurling again, spilling more of his lunch onto the deck. "Actually, I'll need a minute. I'm feeling extremely dizzy for some reason, and as you can see, I'm extremely nauseous as well." Nodding in agreement, Shepard went to wake the others up, all the while, Garrus continued to vomit, though at this point, it was dry heaving, as nothing came out onto the deck.

Waking up the entire crew from their artifact induced slumber varied in terms of difficulty, though some were decidedly easier to wake up than others. Javik, who was the worst affected, needed to be electrically shocked to wake him up, though he clearly showed that he didn't appreciate the rude awakening. Legion was much easier to wake up, as the Geth Platform had shut itself down before the flash in order to protect itself; instead of falling down, the Geth Platform simply resumed it's function before helping the others wake up as well. Dr. Chakwas was, thankfully, easy to wake up, as she simply sat up in the chair she was in before asking what had happened. Eventually, everyone on the ship had been fully awoken, and EDI had been restored to full functionality. A few minutes later, everyone on the ground team was in the War Room on board the CIC Deck, with Joker having come along. "What happened," he asked. "I remember seeing this brilliant, blue-white beam of energy hitting the ship, and then everything went black. Next thing I know, Garrus is waking me up and I've got the mother of all dizzy spells."

"I don't know," Shepard replied. "All I remember was fighting Leng, then stopping when the artifact activated. There was this blue-white energy dome that surrounded us, then the next thing I remember, I'm waking up with Nyreen on top of me, and a very minor headache. EDI, can you tell me what happened?"

"No," EDI replied, crossing her arms as she analyzed some data. "My scanners detected an incoming energy surge. My robotic body then shut down in order to protect itself from what appeared to be a massive electrical overload."

"We concur with EDI," Legion replied. "We enacted shutdown procedures to prevent our systems from being fried."

"Still," Garrus remarked. "I felt like I had swallowed a v _or_ _g_ _anthr_. My stomach was not happy at all. I kept on dry heaving for two full minutes before I was able to get up and wake up Joker. Speaking of which, is the ship damaged?"

"No," EDI replied. "The ship has not sustained any major structural damage. It's armor plating, however, has been severely damaged, but the hull is not compromised."

"That's a relief," Joker beamed. "We'll need to establish communications in order to find out where we are. I'll head back to the cockpit, see if I can't figure out where we are." With that, Joker proceeded to the cockpit, with EDI helping him so that he wouldn't break his already brittle bones.

As he left, Shepard said, "We'll need to find out where we ended up at. I'll head to the CIC as well. Vega, if you can come with me." Nodding in agreement, Vega followed Shepard towards the cockpit, while the others left to tend to their own matters. Only Garrus followed Shepard and Vega, though he knew he would have to check the Thanix Cannon at some point. The thing had probably been shocked badly enough that it needed a full reboot to work properly. Up at the Bridge, Joker was already busy at work getting the engines fired up again, with the familiar hum of the Element Zero Core filling the ship once more. As the ship began to move out, he asked, "Anything?"

"No," Joker replied. "I don't recognize this star system at all. It doesn't appear on any of the navigational charts at all. EDI already checked with me on that regard, and we can both say that…" A moment later, he stopped when he noticed something on the ship's scanners. "Commander, we've got some kind of data link that's trying to connect to our ship. It's nothing that I recognize at all, though."

"Can you pinpoint it's location," Shepard asked.

"Yes," Joker replied. "It appears to be coming from a planet that's orbiting around the star in it's habitable zone. I'll see if I can get us closer." Moments later, the ship turned towards the source of the signal, with the exterior view changing into that of Element Zero induced FTL flight. Moments later, the ship came out of FLT flight and into orbit around the planet. Looking at the planet, Shepard found that it closely resembled Earth, but only in terms of color. The continents were not the right shape at all, and he could see a number of differences in most of the terrain, even though they were in orbit around the planet. He could also see what he thought were small points of light moving around the planet at high speed.

"Is this the source of the signal," he asked.

"Yes," Joker replied.

"Commander," EDI added. "I have detected a number of COM signals originating from the planet. They appear to be human in origin."

"Human," Shepard asked. That surprised him greatly. As far as he knew, most of the civilians that had been evacuated when the Reapers attacked were on planets that were close to the Mass Relay network, but not so far as to render the night sky unrecognizable. On top of that, this was no planet that he recognized at all. "How?"

"Unknown," EDI replied. "I have determined that they are speaking in English as well as in French. Analysis indicates that they are currently detecting an unusual energy burst near the fifth planet in the star system. Based on our arrival, as well as the COM traffic, I can determine that energy burst was our arrival."

"I see," Shepard nodded. Thinking carefully, he asked, "Can you access this signal, EDI?"

"Yes," EDI replied. "I am accessing the signal right now. I am also masking our signal to prevent us from being detected." There were a few seconds as she worked through the processes required, then she said, "Commander, I believe I have found a symbol of some kind that identifies who the unknowns are." Moments later, what EDI had found came up on a screen. Looking at the screen, Shepard found that he was looking at an unusual emblem. Where most emblems where he was from were simple, this one was highly complex and highly detailed. It was the symbol of a long sword that had the tip pointing down towards the ground, with the hilt at the top of the symbol. Behind the symbol was a red-orange background and in the middle of the image was a sunburst that was golden-yellow in color. The circular edge of the emblem was black, though there was a white circle inside of the black one.

While Shepard didn't recognize the emblem, James Vega did. "Oh… shit," he whispered.

"What is it," Shepard asked.

"I think I know who the emblem belongs to. Shepard, remember when we played Classic BattleTech together."

"I still remember it quite well. Why do you ask?"

"Because I know what that symbol is. That's the symbol of the Federated Suns, one of the factions in Classic BattleTech." Looking at EDI, he asked, "Can you bring up the date?"

"Yes," EDI replied. "The current date according to the signal is June 15th, 3024."

When she said that, Vega's expression went from shocked, to worried. "Commander," he said, "I think I have a lot to tell you."

"You do," Shepard replied. "First though, I want to find out how we got here in the first place."

"I can solve that for you. It took me a few to put two and two together, but I think I know what happened. Can you call a meeting in the War Room. I think we need to have a major talk."

"I can agree on that," Shepard replied, even as he began making the arrangements. "Joker, take us behind that planet's moon. We need to have a clandestine meeting so that we're not discovered."

* * *

"So, you're saying that the device that I activated transported us to another reality," Javik asked, both pairs of eyes focused on James and the others. They were currently in the _Normandy's_ War Room, since it was the most secure area they could discuss sensitive information without being overheard by other, less benevolent ears. Right now, instead of a hologram of their galaxy, a map of a roughly circular region was being displayed, with large sections that were in red, blue, green, purple and yellow, with a smattering of other colors outside of the area.

"As far as I can tell, yes," Vega replied. "Unless someone is pulling off the mother of all deceptions right now. Until we have evidence of such deception, however, we'll have to stick with what we know."

Javik became very crestfallen and disgruntled at that, even muttering what Shepard thought was a Prothean cuss word. Walking over to the railing, he leaned on it with both of his arms, before rubbing where the bridge of a human nose would be at. Looking at Shepard, he said, "I… I'm deeply sorry, Shepard. If I had known that the device my people created would do this, then I would never have interfaced with it. It's because of me that we're trapped in what might be a parallel reality. I should have listened to your advice and helped defeat Leng and the other Cerberus personnel before attempting to interface with it." When he said this, there was genuine shame and regret in his voice, something that Shepard had never heard before.

"It's alright, Javik," Shepard replied. "You had no way of knowing what would happen. It happens to the best of us. Even I didn't know what would happen when I encountered my first Prothean artifact. It's not like there's an instruction manual for those kinds of things, at least, not after fifty thousand years."

"But it's my job to know that," Javik protested.

"Relax," Shepard replied. "You were a soldier, not an engineer. You admitted it yourself when we found you. Don't beat yourself up over something that was beyond your control." Turning to James, he said, "Either way, all we can do now is figure out where we ended up and what we need to do next. Vega, you have the floor."

"Thank you, Commander," Vega replied. Walking over to the holo-projector, he cleared his throat before saying, "As you are probably highly aware of now, that Prothean device created some kind of really strange energy outburst, which sent us into a world that I'm very much familiar with. We've ended up in the universe that holds the reality created by the gaming franchises 'BattleTech' and 'MechWarrior.' The franchises take place in an alternate future, where Humanity never encountered the Prothean ruins, or any alien species of any kind. In addition, FTL flight was achieved in the year 2107 with the creation of the 'Kearny-Fuchida Drive', an FTL drive that uses hyperspace to propel a ship across vast distances of space. This led to a huge surge in exploration, which led to the creation of a 980-1020 diameter region of space called the 'Inner Sphere.'" Moving the holographic map a little bit, he said, "During the so called, Age of War, this led to the creation of six major factions known as 'Great Houses'. The ones we are currently dealing with are the Lyran Commonwealth in blue, Capellan Confederation in green, Federated Suns in yellow, Free Worlds League in purple and Draconis Combine in red." He motioned to each colored region on the map as he said this.

"Interesting," Tali, who was examining the map, remarked. "I wonder what governments they are? Are they like the Quarian Conclave, Turian Hierarchy?"

"More like the Salarian Union, but with some differences," Vega explained. "The Great Houses are what are known as 'neo-feudal' states. That means that, instead of a democracy or oligarchy, they're an autocracy, with lords and ladies, princes and princesses and other things like that, and the position of ruler-ship is hereditary. The Federated Suns, for instance, calls it's leader the 'First Prince.', while the Lyran Commonwealth calls it's leader the 'Archon.'"

"Interesting," Garrus remarked. "Mordin would certainly find common ground with those governments."

Moments later, everyone was surprised to hear Mordin's voice in the War Room. "Already have." Turning around, they found that he was being wheeled into the room via a wheelchair that a crew member was pushing. "Analysis of governmental structure fascinating. Autocratic government anachronistic but still highly effective. Different from Salarian Union in many ways. Still… quite fascinating."

Behind him, Dr. Chakwas was coming along. "My apologies, Commander," she said to Shepard. "Mordin was absolutely insistent that he attend this meeting. He wouldn't stop wanting to come, so I had to oblige him."

"That's alright," Shepard remarked. "As long as he doesn't push himself until he's fully recovered, he can attend." Turning to Vega, he said, "Proceed, Vega."

"Thank you, Commander," Vega remarked. Clearing his throat again, he said, "Now, in terms of technology, BattleTech is quite interesting in that regard."

"How so," Tali asked.

"Well, I'll give you a brief history lesson," Vega replied. "Roughly 500 or so years ago, the Inner Sphere was embroiled into a massive period of warfare known as the 'Age of War'. We're talking a 150 year era of uninterrupted warfare, and casualties in the millions, if not billions. This all came to an end when Ian Cameron, the Director-General of the Terran Hegemony, began acting as a mediator in order to end the ongoing conflict. He started by helping the Confederation and Free Worlds League sign and comply with treaties of mutual understanding and cooperation. Eventually, the Federated Suns, Lyran Commonwealth, and Draconis Combine all joined in, wanting a little peace after all that fighting. It wasn't until July 23rd, 2571 that the Star League Accords were formally ratified, with Ian Cameron being elected as 'First Lord of the Star League.'" For the next few minutes, Vega told the team what he knew about the Star League Era, from the rise of the Star League, to it's demise in the Amaris Coup, and the resulting Succession Wars that resulted from the Collapse of the Star League. It was clear that Vega knew a lot, if not all, about the setting itself, as the crew listened intently to what he was saying, even asking their own questions here and there. Mordin seemed particularly fascinated by the technology, especially when Vega described it as 'future of the '80's' technology, though he admitted that it might not be like that, given that there was a modernized version and a similar version involving aliens.

When he was finished, everyone had a clear idea as to what was going on. Garrus, who had paid the most attention out of everyone, said, "So, let me get this straight. We're in a universe where Humanity has advanced technology, despite suffering from tech regression, is in the middle of a series of pissing matches for the Star League Throne, and will have to deal with an invasion of the SLDF-in-exile turned warrior society?"

"Basically," Vega replied. "And in the Modern version, the Dark Age never happened, and the Clans were defeated after the Inner Sphere regained it's military strength from the Word of Blake Jihad and stomped their _trashborn_ asses into the dirt."

"Spirits," Nyreen remarked. "It's like a fleshed out, well written science fiction/adventure kind of novel, or video game." Looking at Vega, she asked, "Are there any planets with dextro amino-acid life forms."

"In the one including aliens, yes," Vega replied. "Eaton was one such place, as were some of the planets in the Periphery. Just so you know, I don't know which version of BattleTech we ended up in. We could be in Classic BattleTech, which is future of the 80's, Modern BattleTech, which is what we have but to a much more advanced scale, and Advanced BattleTech, which includes aliens and Mass Relays and that kind of thing. Who knows, it might be a blend of all three of them. Until we look around, I can't tell you if that's the case or not."

"And here I thought Vega was just a meathead," Taylor remarked. "Glad to see that I was wrong."

"Meathead, really," Vega said in mock indignation. "You wound me, Taylor. Anyways, given the emblem that EDI discovered, I can safely say that we're in the territory of the Federated Suns. Think of them as 21st Century America in space, and you've got a pretty good idea as to what we're looking at. One of my friends called them 'noblebright do-gooders,' which is fitting since the Federated Suns is one of those few Great Houses that actually wants to make life better for it's people, not oppress them like the Capellans or Combine. There is one faction we will have to be very careful about."

"ComStar," Xavora summarized for everyone. "You told us quite a bit about them. Talk about technology worshiping fanatics. They think Jerome Blake is some kind of deity."

"Pretty much," Vega replied. "They're responsible for manipulating the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere, and keeping them from recovering their technology. Fortunately, the Star League made backups in the event that happened." Moving the holographic map, he highlighted four planets, with three in the Inner Sphere and one in the Deep Periphery. "The SLDF created specially designed bases called 'Field Library Facilities.' Each one holds what's known as a 'Memory Core', which is basically a really high capacity solid state drive. The two most important ones are the Helm Memory Core, located on the planet of Helm, and the New Dallas Memory Core, located in New Dallas. Think of these as the ultimate 'Anti-LosTech' devices. The Helm Memory Core, for instance, holds the information to, on first principles, to build the tools to build the factories to build the tools to build Late Star League Era technology, from WarShips to certain BattleMechs and things like that."

"Nice," Tali remarked. "How do you know all of this, by the way?"

"Well," Vega remarked. "I downloaded and memorized all of the technical manuals, rule books and novels around the BattleTech franchise. I've got Wolves on The Border, for one, as well as a number of encyclopedias on the subject. Why do you ask?"

"Because that will be highly important," Shepard said for Tali. "If we can get one of the better Great Houses this information, it would radically alter their plans for the future. We might be able to exchange this information in order to find a way to return home, if there is a way back that is. Until we can find a way home, we'll be here for the duration. Which of the Great Houses do you think will be suitable, Vega?"

"The Federated Suns, sir. They're one of the 'good guy' factions in the Inner Sphere. During this time period, the Federated Suns is led by one of the greatest, if not the greatest, First Prince in the history of that government. I don't remember his name, but they call him the 'Fox' because of how intelligent and cunning he is. He'll be a father too, though I don't remember his kid's names. He's a good man, Shepard; he's basically BattleTech's version of you, and he has solid amounts of military experience as a 'MechWarrior."

"You never did explain what those are, Vega," Wrex remarked.

"I don't need to," Vega replied. "You'll know what a BattleMech is when you see one." Looking at Shepard, he said, "Since we are probably going to have to make contact with a Great House, the Federated Suns is the optimal choice, Commander, as is the Lyran Commonwealth, since they'll eventually merge to form the Federated Commonwealth, which will be the greatest nation since the formation of the Star League. Since we're here, it'll be our job to keep it from falling apart, all because of The Bitch, as well as to help the Federated Suns gain access to the Helm, Dallas and Gray Legion Memory Cores. If we do that, then the Clans will have a very hard time indeed."

"The Bitch," Shepard asked, confused.

"A derogatory nickname for Katherine Steiner-Davion," Vega explained. "She took over the FedCom in a coup, and most of the dukes rebelled against her. She tore apart the FedCom in a civil war, mostly because if she couldn't have it, then no one could have it. That's why she's known as The Bitch in BattleTech circles."

"I see," Shepard remarked. "Since we'll obviously have to make contact with the Federated Suns, we might even help them out on the technology front. We've got schematics for optical and quantum computers, and we know how to create AI. That might help them out greatly." Looking at Legion, he asked, "Legion, what's the chance of the Inner Sphere holding off the Clans should we share our technology."

"Based on our analysis of the technology of BattleTech," Legion replied, "as well as the analysis of our technology, there is a 92.4% chance that the Inner Sphere will be able to prevent the Clans from succeeding in their goals. There is a 99.8% chance that the Word of Blake will not be able to start it's Jihad. Cooperation and sharing of resources will result in a 98.5% chance of long term survival. We have also formed a consensus using this data. Cooperation with the Federated Suns will yield the best results for our long term function."

"I concur with Legion," EDI replied. "The Federated Suns is our best chance of remaining operational long enough to return home. Given how far apart these events are, we will have to research life extending technologies if we're to live long enough to get back home."

"We might not have to," Garrus remarked. "The NAIS might do that for us. Not surprising, since they're a research organization dedicated to recovering all LosTech in the Inner Sphere. If there is Element Zero in this reality as well, we might have a chance of upgrading the Inner Sphere beyond what the Reapers would be able to stop."

"Good thinking," Shepard nodded. "What about our non-levo amino acid crew members. We'll need to find a way to get them food and medical supplies."

"You won't have to worry about that," Garrus replied. "The Hierarchy's been researching genetic enhancements to solve that problem for a long time. Recently, any Turians that were either in the military, or had served honorably in the HDF had the option of undergoing genetic therapy to be able to ingest levo amino acid foods and gain nutrition from them, since tests on willing Turians were completely successful. I received the augment after we destroyed the Collectors. Nyreen said she received it shortly before we did, as did Xavora. I'm not sure about Tali, though."

"No, I didn't," Tali replied. "Though Mordin might be able to solve that problem quickly."

"Can readily solve problem," Mordin replied. "Read up on Turian geneticist work. Very well detailed, highly simple to implement. Very fascinating, highly useful."

"That's good to hear," Shepard nodded. "Any objections to our course of action?" When no one objected, he said, "Then it's decided. We'll make contact with the Federated Suns once we've determined where we are in the Inner Sphere. If all goes well, we'll be able to get to their Capitol and talk with the First Prince. EDI, Legion, I want you to see if you can make our communications technology compatible with the HyperPulse Generator Network. I also need you to see if we can get the FedSuns schematics for our technology. Tali will help you in that regard. Vega, I need you to download and copy everything BattleTech related into as many backup files as you can without interfering with the ship's functions. Garrus, Nyreen, Xavora, you three will discuss strategies on what to do once we make contact with the FedSuns. The rest of you, dismissed."

* * *

Two hours later, they were getting ready to make First Contact with the Federated Suns. Up in the cockpit, Shepard was standing at the ready, dressed in his N7 combat hardsuit; over the past two hours, he had cleaned and repaired his armor to the best of his technical abilities, with Tali helping him on details that he wasn't qualified to handle. As a result, his armor not only looked well maintained, it was as though it had come fresh off the production line, ready for military service. Nearby, Vega was standing to attention, his armor having received a similar treatment for when they would make contact. Joker, as always, was ready to bring the ship off the surface of the planet's moon and head for the planet itself. Miranda and Taylor were nearby as well, as a part of the greeting committee.

When it came to the others, they had a surprising amount of success. EDI, Tali and Legion, after working with each other for the past two hours, had come up with a means of interfacing with the HPG on the planet they were at by using the radio equipment they had onboard. It was a stop-gap measure, but it would have to do until a more dedicated system could be created. Garrus and his team, on the other hand, had come up with numerous strategies on what to do once they met the Federated Suns, all of which they had run by Legion and EDI before presenting to him. As for Wrex, Grunt and the others, they were all ready and waiting if he needed them. _Here we go_ , he thought. _Once again, we're throwing ourselves into the deep end, with no idea as to what is in it._ Looking at Joker, he said, "You can begin, Joker."

"Aye aye, Captain," Joker replied. "Operation: 'Throwing Ourselves into The Deep End' is a go." Shepard cracked a smile at the semi-serious joke. It was always nice of Joker to inject humor into a potentially volatile situation. Some would be annoyed by the trait, while others, like Shepard, deeply appreciated Joker's bad, but fitting, jokes and puns. A moment later, the ship rumbled as it slowly lifted off the moon's surface, before quickly accelerating away from it. Moments later, the planet they had arrived at came into view, with the ship zooming towards it. It wouldn't take them long to reach the planet itself, around thirty to forty five minutes. With that in mind, Shepard sat down in a chair and waited for the FedSuns to take notice.

It wasn't long until someone did take notice of what was going on. "Commander," EDI reported. "I am detecting a number of small ships moving in on our position. LiDAR readings indicate these are _Leopard_ DropShips that have been heavily modified for planetary defense."

"Looks like the Federated Suns finally noticed us," Joker remarked. "Maybe they're so obsessed with sunlight that they've been blinded somewhat."

"Joker," Shepard chided.

"Alright, alright," Joker replied. "Still, they could use a better early warning system."

"That we can agree on," Vega nodded.

A moment later, Shepard spotted one of the modified _Leopard_ DropShips out the view port. The DropShip looked as though someone had taken a brick, cut the front face at an obtuse angle, stuck wings and armor onto the brick, and attached thrusters to the back before deciding it was space worthy. While it looked ugly, Shepard had been informed that the _Leopard_ DropShip was incredibly robust, and was highly favored by mercenary companies for it's simplicity and reliability. Moments later, four more came into view, each one sporting weapons that would make a similar sized ship turn green with envy. The COM crackled to life as an accented voice said in English, "Unidentified contact, you are entering restricted New Avalon aerospace. Identify yourself, or you will be fired upon. You have thirty seconds to comply."

"New Avalon," Vega gasped, surprised. "That's the FedSun's Capitol."

"Understood," Shepard replied. Clearing his throat, he said, "This is Commander Shepard of the SSV _Normandy_. Do not fire on us. Our intentions are peaceful. We have civilian personnel on board and we do not want a fight. We come in peace."

There was a half minute of silence as Shepard hoped that the AFFS (Armed Forces of the Federated Suns) would see reason and logic instead of firing on a knee-jerk impulse. Thankfully, this hope was well founded, as the accented voice said, "SSV _Normandy_ , we have relayed your words to HIGHCOM. We are sending you a landing vector and flight path. Do not deviate from this flight path, or you will be fired upon. We will be escorting you to New Avalon. Understood?"

"Understood," Shepard replied. Moments later, Joker received the flight vector, which he programmed into the computer moments later. "Maintain speed with them," he told Joker. "I don't want to give those guys any reason to fire on us."

"I hear you," Joker replied. "Look at the guns on those things. Those definitely say 'fuck off bitch.'" Shepard had to agree, even as they flew towards the planet, with their escorts following them every kilometer of the way. As they approached the planet, the ship angled upwards, so that it could safely enter the atmosphere, with the other DropShips performing a similar maneuver as well. The ship rattled and shook as it pushed into the atmosphere of the planet, with the turbulence making things more difficult. Soon, the fires of reentry faded away to reveal a beautiful vista of a planet, with green fields, sprawling forests, as well as cities that gleamed in the light of New Avalon's sun. Looking around, Shepard could hear Vega saying something in Spanish under his breath, probably a comment on how it looked so interesting. Eventually, they found themselves flying towards what appeared to be a large mountain, with what appeared to be a sprawling estate on the top of it. It was clear their arrival had people nervous, as Shepard could see tanks, IFV's, as well as infantry in formation around the landing pad. Slowing the ship down, Joker expertly brought it to a stop, before setting it down onto the landing pad, with a muted thump announcing their arrival. Moments later, a mobile stairwell was brought to the airlock door near the cockpit, presumably a courtesy from the AFFS.

"Alright," Shepard said to Vega and the others. "As long as we play cool, they won't have reason to shoot at us. Given what you've said about their weapons tech, we probably wouldn't stand a chance against any laser based weapons. So don't shoot unless you absolutely have to. Understood?"

"Perfectly, Commander," Miranda replied.

"Good," Shepard nodded. With that, he proceeded towards the door, which opened up at his command moments later. The moment he stepped outside, Shepard could see the bright blue sky of New Avalon as well as it's brilliant, young star and it's welcoming heat. Looking around, Shepard could see that the landing strip was built into a large, concrete slab that had a large amount of equipment nearby, all of which he presumed was for maintaining and repairing DropShips that would land here. Surrounding the landing pad, as well as the entire estate, were large, Alaskan Barriers that looked like they would prevent a Geth Colossus from being able to get inside for quite some time. Looking down, he found that a number of AFFS personnel, most likely the 1st Davion Guards, were present, each one sporting an M42B Infantry Weapon System. Looking to the left and right, he could see the various Combat Vehicles that were present, as well as what he realized were towering, robotic war machines, all of which were armed to the teeth with weapons that would make mincemeat of the _Normandy_. _Those must be the BattleMechs that Vega told us about,_ he thought. _I can see why he said we would know them the moment we saw them: they're hard to miss._

Taking this moment to walk down the stairwell, he began to descend down the stairs, keeping his hands in the air to show that he was unarmed. Reaching the bottom, he watched as personnel began to use handheld scanners of some kind to make sure he wasn't armed and dangerous, while doing the same for the others in his team. A moment later, one of the men motioned to Shepard to follow him, to which he complied moments later. Nearby, he noticed another man; while he was also armed and armored, he had an air of authority about him, indicating he was a higher ranking officer than the others. As soon as he was close enough, the men next to him brought Shepard to a halt. A moment later, one of the men said, "State your identity please."

Nodding, Shepard cleared his throat before saying, "My name is Commander John Shepard of the SSV _Normandy._ We come in peace."

There was silence on the other end as the man looked at Shepard. While his face was hidden, Shepard knew the man was scrutinizing his appearance closely. A moment later, he said, "I am Ardan Sortek, bodyguard to the First Prince. We are the Federated Suns."


	3. Arrival & Interviews

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Mass Effect - MechWarrior/BattleTech crossover. Thank you for the support that I have received thus far. I deeply appreciate any feedback I can get. Just so you know, the rapid updates won't last forever, as they'll soon slow down as I handle finishing my other crossover in a similar category. This story will also be similar, but not identical, to the one that inspired this crossover. Either way, thank you for your support, and I hope to see you in later chapters. As always, leave a comment, a kudo or two, and enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect or MechWarrior/BattleTech franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of BioWare, Electronic Arts, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs and Piranha Games Inc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.

**New Avalon**

**Mount Davion**

**June 15th, 3024**

The moment Shepard heard the man's name, he knew who he was dealing with. Ardan Sortek, according to Vega, was the First Prince's right hand man, the 'second-in-command' so to speak. Sortek was a man that was widely renown throughout the entire Inner Sphere mostly due to his tactical genius, as well as his unflinchingly valorous combat against any enemy combatant. According to Vega, he was also responsible for helping Quintus Allard, the head of the Federated Suns' intelligence branches at the time, rescue said First Prince from a Capellan plot to install an impostor onto the throne of the FedSuns to make it a puppet state. In the end, he'd been made the 'Prince's Champion', though he had simply stated that he was just doing his job, which was to protect the First Prince by any means necessary. Now that he knew who he was dealing with, he could better determine what to say and what to do in order to earn Sortek's trust. He was about to speak when Sortek said, "New Avalon is protected, and highly so. How did you come here and why?"

"To be honest, it wasn't by choice," Shepard replied. "We were attacked by rouge military elements when we were examining some kind of alien artifact. When it activated, it incapacitated us and brought us into orbit around your planet. Since then, we've been trying to figure out what's been going on."

While he spoke, Sortek kept a very close eye on Shepard, possibly in order to determine if he was lying. While his story was improbably, Shepard knew he was telling the truth, as he had nothing to hide from the Hero of the Federated Suns. After a moment, he said, "Indeed. Honesty would be a good start." Turning to his men, he said, "You can go now. I doubt our guest will want to tangle with the 1st Davion Guards." Turning back to Shepard, he said, "We will be searching your ship to determine if there is anything… dangerous aboard. Anything else you want to tell me?"

"Yes," Shepard replied. "Not all of my crew members are… human in terms of appearance."

"What do you mean?"

"They're aliens, Sortek," Shepard replied.

"I see," Sortek remarked, both his hidden eyes boring into Shepard's own. "If that's the case, then this just got much more complicated." Turning to his men, he said, "Search the ship for anything dangerous, such as weapons. I want everything bagged and tagged for examination. You are not to discuss what you see in there with anyone but myself, Quintus Allard and the First Prince himself. Anything you see and read will be classified as Sword-One. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," the others replied emphatically, clearly showing that they trusted Sortek deeply.

"Good." Turning back to Shepard, he said, "Follow me. If you attempt any form of hostile action, or deviate from my position by about three meters, you will be shot on sight. Understand?"

"Perfectly," Shepard replied.

"Good. We will be taking you to a temporary holding cell until the First Prince calls for you, or requests evidence to prove your account of events." With that, three men approached Shepard, with one taking the rear, while the other two stood next to him at the two meter limit. Once they were in position, they began to march, following Sortek while Shepard followed him as well. Looking at a video feed on his helmet, Shepard could see the 1st Davion Guard's reactions to the rest of the crew. Most of the Human crew were received with some suspicion, as was to be expected given their current circumstances. It was the non-Human crew, however, that had the most interesting reactions. Liara and Samara were the first ones out, and it was clear that some of the Guards were a little surprised. It was clear that they hadn't expected aliens that appeared so… _human_.

The others also had interesting reactions from the Guards. Garrus, Xavora and Nyreen were the next ones out, and it was clear their appearance had the Guards on edge. Some of them had subconsciously reached for their weapons, while the others remained calm, if somewhat wary. Tali was next out, and it was clear that they recognized her armor as an enviro-suit, as they did a double scan with what appeared to be a medical scanner. They were also treating her with respect, since she was a leader among her people. Wrex and Grunt, the largest aliens thus far, had the Guards reaching for what appeared to be high caliber weapons, though thankfully, they didn't fire a shot. When they learned that Wrex was the leader of his species, they quickly apologized for their actions, to which Wrex nodded. Of all the crew, however, Legion and EDI had the most interesting reactions. Most of the Guards were surprised that these two members of the crew were sapient machines, not organic beings like them.

While this was going on, Shepard took a look around at the BattleMechs that Vega had told him about. Judging from what he was looking at, the two 'Mechs in question were the _Battlemaster_ and the _Catapult_ 'Mechs, one being an Assault Class 'Mech while the other was a Heavy 'Mech that Vega described as a 'walking MRLS platform.' He could tell that, despite the fact they were using Succession War Era technology, they were well maintained. "Your 'Mechs look well kept," he remarked.

"Thank you," Sortek replied. "You have 'Mechs where you are from?"

"Yes. We call it an Atlas, but it's certainly smaller than what you probably have."

"I see." With that, there was little, if any, conversation, as Sortek led Shepard and the others inside of one of the buildings in the estate. The building was what appeared to be a decontamination center, which also seemed to be combined with a temporary holding cell, most likely for inmates being transferred to any prisons on the planet. Once they were inside, Sortek turned and said, "We will be watching you for the duration of this meeting. You will cooperate with the personnel inside of the building. Failure to cooperate will be met with lethal force. Understood?"

"Yes," Shepard replied.

"Good. Step inside and follow the instructions of the personnel inside."

Not wanting to provoke a fight, Shepard walked inside. The room was a large, shower like area, with sterile white floors and walls, as well as a light tan ceiling inside that had powerful LED lights installed into the ceiling, casting a harsh, white glow in the area. Inside the room were armored and armed guards, as well as decon personnel wearing high tech HAZMAT suits. All of them seemed to be armed with cleaning equipment, as well as scanners to make sure there were no foreign contaminants. One of the decon personnel, the boss from the looks of it, walked over to Shepard and said, "Please remove all armor and clothing for decontamination." Complying, Shepard removed his armor and clothing, with the personnel immediately going to work decontaminating him. Fortunately, the process was quick and clean, as he was handed a spare change of clothes once he was cleared. His armor was currently undergoing decontamination inside of what appeared to be a large, box-like device, most likely a UV/Ultrasound cleaner

It went like this for the other members of the crew, with the Decon Team being quick, thorough and professional in their work. The non-Human crew members were a little harder, since their alien biology meant that the Decon Team had to be more thorough. The only non-Human crew member that had been allowed to keep her gear was Tali, as she explained via a Omni-Tool translator that she had to keep her suit on, or risk death by disease, since her immune system was practically nonexistent. Since she was also a leader, they were also respectful of her status, and thus didn't pry too much when it came to her armor. Once Decontamination was completed, they had their gear handed back, but not before they were placed into specially designed holding cells, each one designed to hold four people at a time. They had been given spare clothes, which Shepard figured they considered minimal courtesy, while he, Wrex, and Tali were being treated with respect. "So, what's going to happen to us now," Miranda asked, making sure her clothing was on correctly.

"Now we wait," Shepard replied, once he had put his armor back on. "It's up to Ardan Sortek now. With luck, the First Prince will be interested in speaking to us."

"He'd better," Wrex grumbled, and not because of the Decon team's thoroughness. "I'd rather not be picked apart as some kind of science experiment."

"Similar thoughts here as well," Garrus replied. "It would be some nasty _s'kak_ to end up being vivisected." Still, he knew what Shepard knew: it was now a matter of luck. As guards approached the doors, he got ready for an interrogation. _Just treat this as an interview at C-Sec and you'll be fine_ , he told himself, even as the people walked inside.

* * *

On the other side of the exchange, Ardan Sortek knew he had never seen such a diverse array of species and people before. It had been roughly ten minutes since they had made First Contact with the unknowns, and already, he was learning a lot about them. Their leader, Shepard if he recalled correctly, seemed professional, logical and reasonable, qualities that made for an excellent leader. His crew seemed to trust him, as they had followed his orders to the letter, even though they were in a very unusual situation. So far, they were also proving to be cooperative with the interrogators as well, as none of them seemed to be lying. He had no worries about the 'robots' that they were interrogating, as he knew that a machine couldn't lie. It could be diplomatic or exaggerate, but he knew machines couldn't lie. The one called Legion had even said that it's kind, the Geth, did not lie to each other, as they believed the dissemination of information was necessary for 'unit cohesion.' The non-Human members of Shepard's crew were also being cooperative, with each one answering each question calmly and reasonably. _Still, I have to contact the First Prince_ , he thought to himself. _Scans haven't found any form of deception, and they seem to be telling the truth. First, however, I will interview their leader: Shepard._ _This 'Vega' also seems to know a lot more than he's letting on. I will interview him first, then Shepard._ Walking over to Holding Cell Alpha-2, he motioned to the guards to let him inside. Once the door was open, he proceeded inside and said, "James Vega, come with me."

"Coming," Vega replied, getting up from the chair he was sitting in a moment later. Following Sortek and a couple of the guards, he walked into what appeared to be an interviewing room. Three of the walls were made out of panels of a light tan material, with what appeared to be cameras built into parts of the walls. The fourth wall had a large, silvered window, making it impossible to see what was on the other side of the window itself. There was a single table in the room, as well as two chairs, each one facing the other on opposite sides of the table. As soon as he was inside, he was escorted over to the chair furthest from the window, which he sat down in as quickly as possible.

Sortek sat down a moment later, before pulling out what appeared to be a recording device. It was an old piece of technology, something that Vega knew was straight out of the eighties, though it was clear that they used to have more advanced technology. A moment later, Sortek loaded in a miniature cassette before closing the loading tray and hitting the record button. Clearing his throat, he said, "Interview #935, with Ardan Sortek in attendance. Interviewee is a male in his early to mid twenties. Subject is Hispanic in appearance, with brown hair, dark green eyes and a tanned complexion." Looking at Vega, he asked, "Would you state your name and affiliation for this interview?"

"Yes," Vega replied. "James Vega, Systems Alliance Marines. Alliance Marine Corporal."

"Thank you. According to your previous interviews, you claim to come from a universe that is markedly different from our own in a number of ways, yes?"

"That's correct."

"And how is this parallel universe different?"

"Well, for one, we discovered sapient alien life that was at, if not higher, than our current level of technological advancement. Our First Contact was with a species known as the Turians, in the year 2157."

"You stated in your previous interviews that you had a hostile first contact, yes?"

"Yes, but it depends on your point of view. From the Turian side of things, we were a species that was very much about to invoke some horrific catastrophe by breaking Council law. On our side of things, we had no knowledge of the Citadel Council and it's laws, therefore, we had no idea that what we were doing was illegal. It got sorted out in the end, but only after a month long war that the Turians call the 'Relay 314 Incident', and what we call the 'First Contact War.' Nowadays, relations are cool, but cordial, and they've been getting stronger since."

"I see. So the individual that calls himself 'Garrus Vakarian' is not a threat?"

"No, not unless you give him good reason to be, like try to kill him. That's a good rule of thumb when dealing with Shepard: Do not make yourself an enemy of his. Most of his enemies have a way of uh… hehe… dying."

"I see." There was a moment as Sortek sifted through some papers, then he said, "You claim to have intimate knowledge of the universe you call 'BattleTech', the one that you say we are currently in. Correct?"

"Yes," Vega replied. "What's better is that I can prove it. I know that the NAIS has been working on reverse engineering the HyperPulse Generator from first principles for quite some time, as well as all other pieces of LosTech. I can also say with certainty that you are currently dealing with ComStar, and that you're trying to clandestinely one up them in a game of cat and mouse."

When he said that, he immediately knew that he had hit a nerve, as Ardan's posture immediately stiffened. "That is classified as Sword One," he growled, a light, but dangerous one at that. "How did you know that?"

"When you come from an alternate reality, where another universe is just a game franchise, you learn a lot of interesting things," Vega defended. "If I had my Omni-Tool, I would be able to give you the information you need, as well as a way of accessing that information. Sadly, it's probably being deconstructed by the New Avalon Institute of Science. If it isn't, and you've got a large enough memory bank for it, I am more than willing to gladly share that information with you."

"I see," Sortek remarked. Turning to one of the guards, he said, "Inform the NAIS to send over one of these 'Omni-Tools', preferably the one used by James Vega. It's most likely an arm worn noteputer." The guard immediately acknowledged the order, saluting before leaving the room to carry out his order. Turning back to Vega, he said, "Do you have any other 'proof' that you can share."

"Yes," Vega replied. "I know that you, Quintus, and the First Prince are currently coming up with plans for the invasion of the Capellan Confederation for two reasons. One being to liberate the people that House Liao have been oppressing for the past 250 years, and the other being revenge for the Capellans attempting to kidnap the First Prince and replace him with a convincing double. I also know that ComStar will attempt to initiate a COM's blackout by restricting HPG use, but that Quintus got around that problem by using the 31st century equivalent of a telegram, known as a 'Black Box.'" Again, he noticed that Sortek stiffened in his posture once again, evidence that he had correctly guessed at their plans.

It went on like this for a whole two minutes, with Vega surprising Sortek with knowledge that he had on the BattleTech franchise, even going so far as to tell him events that were going to happen in the future. Near the end, Sortek asked, "Anything else that you are willing to share?"

"Yes," Vega replied. "You might want to start prepping your military forces, though."

"Why?"

"Well, it's simple really," Vega shrugged. "I can tell you that, around twenty eight years from now, you'll be facing an invasion coming from the northern portion of the Inner Sphere. This invading force will not be aliens, however, but rather a warrior society calling itself the Clans. They're the descendants of the Star League-in-Exile, and they have one goal: to 'liberate' the Inner Sphere from the oppressive Great Houses and restore the Star League's rightful rule by conquering Terra and defeating the Great Houses. Once we have my Omni-Tool, I can show you the invasion vectors that the invading Clans will be using."

As soon as he said this, the guard that Sortek had sent returned. "Sir," he said, "I have the subject's arm worn noteputer. It was still being cataloged for study. Sorry for the delay." At the same time, another soldier brought in what appeared to be some kind of a memory storage device, though it was about as large as a medium sized cardboard box. A computer interface was on the top, as well as what appeared to be a portable power supply that was affixed to the right side. Vega figured that it was the BattleTech equivalent of a portable memory unit.

"That's alright," Sortek replied. "Set it down on the table." Once the soldiers did so, Vega waited until Sortek motioned to him before putting on his Omni-Tool and activating it. While the soldiers were a little surprised by what they were seeing, Sortek's face remained about as readable as a stone rock face. Pulling out a small cable from a pocket in his pants, he connected his Omni-Tool to the memory storage before beginning a data upload. It wasn't just the technical manuals of the BattleTech franchise; it was also the novels, information on the Clans, ComStar, the Great Houses, as well as dates and timelines for major events. He also uploaded information on the Helm Memory Core, as well as his own notes on the Clan's invasion corridors. Once he was finished, he disconnected the cable, shut off his Omni-Tool and removed it from his person. "Thank you," Sortek replied. "That will be all, Mr. Vega. Thank you for your cooperation." Looking at one of the guards, he said, "Escort him back to the holding cells. Make sure no one approaches him, or his fellow crew mates unless they have Sword One security clearance." The guards merely nodded. Motioning to Vega, they had him stand up before they escorted him out of the room and back to the holding cells. Looking at the memory storage unit, he motioned to another guard before saying, "Send this Memory Unit to Quintus Allard for analysis. If Mr. Vega is correct, and I have reason to believe he is, then we might be looking at the most sensitive information in the entire Inner Sphere. Give it to no one else but him. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the guard replied, having realized the importance of this information. Picking up the Memory Unit, he quickly left the room, immediately taking the closest route to MIIO's HQ. With that taken care of, he continued to bring in people for interviewing.

As the minutes and hours passed, he began to compile a personal psychological profile of each of the crew members of the _Normandy_. Shepard was, by far, a near carbon copy of the First Prince himself in all but name, affiliation and rank. The man had a charismatic, but honest, aura about him, something that Sortek knew were good qualities to have in a leader. He also seemed to care about his men, even falling silent when he'd asked if he had lost someone on a mission. The look in his eyes told Sortek one thing: this man had seen the horrors of war and had not been broken by them. _That man is a survivor_ , he had said to himself. _Survivors often make good leaders, because they are decisive enough to know what to do on the spot, something that I can relate to myself._

Most of the alien members of the crew were harder to read, though he was able to determine how they tended to think. While Garrus was the hardest to read, it was clear that he was a soldier through and through. He had shown a level of tactical genius when he explained to Sortek how he would overpower the guards and escape if he was being threatened with violence, as well as how fast he could move when he needed to. Wrex and Grunt, respectively, were both incredibly strong individuals, and were not unacquainted with violence, though it was clear that Shepard's better attributes had rubbed off on them. Liara and Samara were the oddest of the bunch, and not because of their appearance, but rather how… _human_ they seemed. Liara was your young, energetic and vibrant young woman, though she had surprised him when she said she was only 109 years old, while Samara was probably 500-550 years of age. Samara seemed alright, though he could tell that she held herself to a rigid, and inviolable, code of conduct. _I wouldn't tangle with any of the aliens so far, not unless I couldn't help it,_ he had decided.

Tali was, in his opinion, a nervous, but well meaning person. He had shown some sympathy when he learned that she couldn't take off her environmental suit, even though she was fully capable of doing so. When he asked why, she explained that her species immune system wasn't as strong as that of a human's, as it adapted to an infection, rather than destroying it. Coupled with three hundred years of living in a sterile environment, and it was clear her immune system was extremely weak, if not nonexistent. While he treated her as a potential threat, Sortek had to admit, he was saddened by her current state of affairs. _I can't imagine how it must be to live continuously inside of a suit for fear of death by secondary infection,_ he thought to himself.

The two strangest interviewees, of course, were Legion and EDI. Unlike the other crew members, who were living, breathing, organic beings, Legion and EDI were sapient machines that had robotic bodies. The idea of a computer being sapient was something that he'd only read about in dime novels, well written sci-fi books and television shows. Legion had proven to be a highly cooperative AI, as it had given him information whenever he asked for it. While he had to cross reference this information to make sure it was legitimate, he had a feeling that the AI was telling the truth. He had been surprised when he learned that Legion was actually a gestalt consciousness, with each program having some level of sapience. EDI was more like your typical, sci-fi novel AI, as she was intelligent and forthright with her information. She had said a few things that put him on edge, only for her to tell him that those were jokes, albeit poor attempts at humor.

By the time he was finished with the interviews, roughly four hours had passed, with the day quickly starting to come to a close. Closing up the folder that he had been handwriting notes in, he got up from the desk and began walking towards the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see an older man with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes standing outside of the door, with a familiar symbol on his jacket. "Quintus Allard," Sortek greeted, somewhat surprised. "I wasn't expecting you. Something you need?"

"Yes," Quintus nodded. "I've been analyzing the information that this 'James Vega' presented to you before you had it sent to me by hand. I've deduced two conclusions from all of this: either Vega is a ROM Agent that is wishing to defect to our side, or he is exactly what he says he is: an unwilling visitor from a parallel universe. Most of the information inside of the Memory Unit is uncannily close to the information that we know of, and his tactical information is… highly insightful. I was not even aware that the Inner Sphere would be invaded by these 'Clans' twenty eight years from now, and it is clear that Vega knows much more classified information than even you are aware of. What about your conclusions?"

"I think he's telling the truth," Ardan replied. "I also had the privilege of interviewing the alien members of the _Normandy_. Decon Team Delta confirmed that they are non-Humans and that they are of species that haven't been previously classified by scientists. In addition the 'robots' they had appear to be sapient AI, and they were more than willing to hand over information."

"And this 'Commander Shepard?'"

"He strikes me as an honest individual, Quintus. One look into his eyes, and I could clearly tell that he's seen the horrors of war, and something far more than that. He shows some signs of PTSD, as he was hesitant to share some of his experiences, noticeably of an event he called the 'Massacre of Akuze.' The individual known as EDI was more forthright in that regard. Apparently, Shepard, where he comes from, is not only a survivor, he's hailed as a hero of some kind. When they arrived here, they were apparently embroiled into a war with a hyper-advanced race of machines calling themselves the 'Reapers.'"

"I know," Quintus replied. "I read the information that Vega shared via his rather exotic noteputer. I must admit, the idea of sapient, hyper-ancient machines wiping out life in the galaxy every fifty thousand years is… disturbing to say the least. I also have reason to believe this information as, so far, none of what he has shared shows any signs of tampering or fabrication. I also watched the video feeds of the interrogation while my staff was busy. None of them show any signs of lying, and it's clear that they're being honest with us."

"My thoughts exactly," Sortek nodded. "So, what do you think we should do?"

"Nothing, at least not yet," Quintus decided. "We'll have to move them into more comfortable accommodations, given that they've been decontaminated already. I'll have them moved to a building on the estate and placed under house arrest until I've confirmed the information that Vega shared. It will probably be around 48-72 hours until we've finished analyzing the information, and any bits we have analyzed will be sent to the First Prince for final analysis and decision making. If I were a betting man, however, I'd imagine that he'd probably have Shepard and his crew come and speak with him."

"My thoughts exactly," Sortek agreed. Clearing his throat, he said, "Well, I've got to go now. I've got some matters to tend to and I don't want to leave them unfinished. It's been good speaking with you, Quintus."

"The same here," Quintus nodded. Both men shook the other's hand before going their separate ways. They had quite a bit of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it.


End file.
